


Show Me Love

by amyfortuna



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Kissing, Love Confessions, Moving On, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 08:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8094634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: Meleth, one of Idril's handmaidens, persuades Maeglin to abandon his unrequited love for Idril.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Isilloth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Isilloth/gifts).



Meleth shook her head. "Give up this poisonous dream," she urged. "Come back to reality - she is never going to love you!"

Maeglin sighed. "Even now I have hope that I could change her mind, if I could reach her. Will you not let me in to speak with her?"

Her shoulders slumped. "It's her wedding day. She's made it very clear that she does not wish to see you. What more do I need to say?" She made as if to close the door of Idril's suite, but then changed her mind, coming out of the room and shutting the door behind herself. Maeglin, sighing again, was half-turned away, about to leave, when she took hold of his hand. "Perhaps I need to say this," she continued, heart pounding wildly. "Don't try to change her mind. Let me change yours." 

Maeglin turned back toward her, and she leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips. He started back, laying his free hand to his mouth as if he had been stung there. "What are you...Are you...?" he stammered helplessly, blushing. 

"Is that how you wooed the Princess?" Meleth said, smiling playfully. 

"Is the entire city mocking me?" Maeglin said, putting his hand against his cheek as if to hide his blush. He left his other hand in Meleth's though, and did not try to pull away. 

"No," Meleth answered. "I'm the only one mocking you, as you put it, and I'm only doing it because I cannot understand you." She smiled a little, and drew Maeglin's hand away from his face, now holding both his hands. "Why pursue one who has long turned elsewhere, when there is one here who would accept your suit, and gladly so?" 

"I...," Maeglin began, but then shook his head. "But I love her."

Meleth gave him a sharp smile. "Of course you do. She's your cousin. She probably reminds you of your mother."

Maeglin winced, but said nothing. Meleth sighed. "Come to me tonight, if you have any interest in changing your course, and I'll try to show you what love truly is." 

* * *

The wedding feast was over, and Meleth, slightly tipsy on the best wine Gondolin had to offer, kicked off her shoes as she entered her own house. She spotted a bottle of wine on the table near the entryway, and had just picked it up, pondering the wisdom of consuming the entire thing, since Maeglin had not come to her as she had asked, when there was a tentative knock on her door. 

"Come in," she called, and Maeglin pushed the door open, standing framed by the light of the moon. He was pale, even more so than normal, and looked tired. It had been a long feast, and Tuor and Idril were clearly very happy together. Meleth smiled in greeting, and held out her hand. "Come in," she repeated. "I've some wine that's crying out to be drunk." 

Maeglin stepped inside, taking her hand. "Wine sounds good," he said. 

She led him over to the soft couch in her small living room, gathering two wine glasses along the way, and together, they settled down on it. After pouring the wine, she handed one glass to Maeglin and kept the other for herself. For some while, there was silence in the room while they both drank. 

"So what is love, truly?" Maeglin asked at last, not looking at her. "You promised to show me." 

"I can tell you what it isn't," Meleth said, setting her near-empty glass down on the table. "It isn't vain pursuit of someone who sees you as family, not lover. It is mutual, not one-sided. And it's pleasurable, not painful." She smiled, laying a hand on his cheek. "Now let me show you." 

He said nothing, eyes wide and worried in the faint moonlight that drifted in through the large windows. She brushed his cheek with her thumb, then leaned in, slowly. He swayed forward, and they shared a kiss, longer and more gentle than their first, lingering over it. He tasted of wine just as she must have done, and his lips were warm and soft. 

When they drew apart at last, Maeglin laid a hand over hers, nestling in close. For a moment there was no sound but their breathing, slightly quicker than usual. Then Maeglin leaned forward again, and this time she met him halfway. They traded kiss after kiss, gentle at first, then growing bolder. His tongue brushed against her lips and Meleth felt like she was drowning in sensation. 

It could have been only a few minutes or half the night they spent exchanging kiss after kiss, for all Meleth could tell. When dawn began to light the eastern sky, Maeglin drew back, looking out the windows at the light. "I should go," he breathed. "I have duties...." 

"Of course," Meleth said, and then he kissed her once again. 

"I don't want to go," Maeglin added, and Meleth couldn't help but break out into smiles. 

"Enjoyed yourself, then?" 

He nodded, solemnly, but a hint of a smile lurked behind his eyes. "I wish to see you again."

"Then you shall," she said, unable to restrain her grin. He was still a little stiff and awkward, but there was nothing like spending half the night kissing someone to get them to unbend. 

"Will tonight do?" The amount of hope and expectation in his voice sent her senses reeling, and she knelt up on the couch, now a little taller than him, to lean down and kiss him once again, for the final time until tonight. 

"Yes."


End file.
